The present invention relates to toner or developer cartridges suitable for use in laser printers, Xerographic printers, Xerographic copiers and the like. Specifically, the present invention relates to a toner cartridge comprising a removable gasket and a method of remanufacturing toner cartridges employing said gasket.
The use of laser printers in business and industry is rapidly expanding. Typically, such laser printers involve an electrostatic process for forming images. As part of the electrostatic process, the laser printers generally employ a toner material to form the desired images. The toner material is generally supplied in self-contained toner cartridges. The toner cartridges comprise a container for holding the toner material and a rotatable drum for carrying the toner material in a desirable manner.
As a general rule, the toner carrying apparatus of the toner cartridge has a service life considerably greater than that allowed by the amount of toner material present in the toner cartridge. Therefore, the supply of toner material present in the toner cartridge is generally exhausted long before the toner carrying apparatus is worn out. Nonetheless, due to the fact that the toner material is extremely messy and difficult to handle, it is not generally considered practical to have an end user place additional toner material in the toner cartridge. Accordingly, it is the general practice to discard the entire toner cartridge when the supply of toner material is exhausted.
In an effort to avoid the economic waste associated with disposing of the entire toner cartridge when its supply of toner material is exhausted, it is becoming increasingly common to remanufacture the toner cartridges by placing a new supply of toner material in the cartridge and reusing the cartridge including the toner carrying apparatus.
Since it is generally not practical to have the end user remanufacture the toner cartridges, the toner cartridges are generally shipped to a central remanufacturing location, remanufactured, and shipped back to the end users. Accordingly, it is necessary to remanufacture the toner cartridges such that they are capable of being transported through the mail and the like.
When the toner cartridge is initially manufactured, it is adapted to be transported through the mail and the like. It is the general practice to form the toner cartridge in two sections. The first section is intended to contain the toner material during transport of the toner cartridge. The second section contains the toner dispensing means and toner material during operation of the laser printer. Generally, due to the nature of the toner carrying apparatus, it is possible for toner material to leak from the toner cartridge in the area of the toner carrying apparatus. Therefore, it is impractical to have the toner material located in the second section during shipment of the toner cartridge. Accordingly, a removable seal is inserted between the first section and the second section such that, during shipment, the toner material is maintained in the first section. After the end user receives the toner cartridge and has or is ready to place the toner cartridge in the laser printer, the seal separating the first section and the second section is removed and the toner material located in the first section is allowed to fall into the second section into an operable location about the toner carrying apparatus.
During the initial manufacturing process, it is relatively easy to seal the first section from the second section. Generally, the first and second sections are formed separately, with a seal being placed on the first section. The first section and second section are then joined in such a manner that the seal separates the two sections, but upon removal of the seal, the sections are in communication with one another. Unfortunately, during a remanufacturing process, it is not easy to separate the first and second sections in order to again seal the first section with the toner material contained therein. Nonetheless, it is still generally desireable to seal the toner material in the first section in order that the toner cartridge may be shipped to the end user.